HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Stewart, M F Articles by New, J P Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Stewart, M F Articles by New, J P

Acute intermittent porphyria and phaeochromocytoma: shared features

¹ Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, (Hope Hospital), Salford, UK
² Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, (Hope Hospital), Salford, UK

Correspondence to:
Dr F Stewart
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, (Hope Hospital), Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD, UK; felicity.stewart@srft.nhs.uk 7 December 2005

Keywords: acute intermittent porphyria; phaeochromocytoma

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is rare in Europeans, with an estimated prevalence of 1–2 per 100 000.¹ Acute attacks of porphyria cause severe abdominal pain and a range of neurological and other features, including hypertension, tachycardia and excessive sweating. Some of the clinical features of AIP have been attributed to adrenergic hyperactivity.²

Phaeochromocytoma is a neuroendocrine tumour, with an incidence of approximately 0.15 cases per 100 000 per year in the UK.³ The presenting symptoms are sustained or paroxysmal hypertension, sweating, palpitations and anxiety, secondary to excessive production of catecholamines and their metabolites. Diagnosis is based on raised urinary excretion of catecholamines or their metabolites, followed by localisation using CT and/or MRI and specific radio-localisation, usually with meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG).

We present a patient with AIP and fluctuating hypertension in whom the finding of raised catecholamine excretion led to an incorrect diagnosis of co-existent phaeochromocytoma.

Case report
A 34-year-old woman, diagnosed with AIP . . . [Full text of this article]